Ask the Sales Doctor - Total Selling Systems

Warren Wechsler's
Ask the Sales Doctor

Everyone Wants a Special Deal

Warren Wechsler, bestselling author and national sales and motivational speaker, provides many valuable resources free of charge to sales trainers and sales managers. Some restrictions apply to the use and distribution of this information. For more valuable materials, visit Warren's web site www.totalselling.com. All materials and content © Warren Wechsler, 2001 – All rights reserved.

Dean from Toronto writes:

I have a lot of trouble in the business I am in with people wanting 'deals'. They feel that if they are not getting a 'deal', they are not getting what the other guy (the special guy) is getting. Do I have to set up a pay structure where I'm charging more to make these deals? Is there a way around the guy who always wants a deal? Am I just not making him feel special enough already?

Warren answers:

Dean, what a fabulous question, and so well put. As soon as this came into my email I said that this is the sales doctor question. Dean, I'm delighted that you listen in from Toronto, and I'm also delighted that you found my website and got some good ideas for your sales business.

First I have to make you think about some questions. Dean, do you really believe in the pricing you provide and the value you provide? In other words, are you presenting yourself as a "dealing" kind of guy? Are you presenting yourself as someone who will cut the price by 5% when you think someone's not going to buy today? What I'm getting at is do you really believe in your pricing and your value? Are you willing to walk away from business if somebody won't buy at what you feel is your fair price?

Also, do you have published pricing with a discount schedule for volume? For example, if you're in radio advertising or print advertising, there is published rate. Here's what it costs for one insertion, or one time on the radio. Here's what it costs for twelve insertions. If you're in every month with a half page, here's the rate. If you're on the radio three times a day at drive time and you commit to a month at a time, it's what's called volume discounting.

If people are looking for the "deal", do you have a published schedule you can work from and show people why, if they use less of your product or service, the price has to be higher.

Here's something else to think about. Have you given deals in the past, so that now you personally have a reputation, "Oh, well, when Dean comes by, if I just hold out long enough, he'll start knocking something off so I can get a better deal."

Those are four things to think about, basically just some questions that you should consider.

Now onto exactly what you want to do, the answer, Dean, is no. Everybody doesn't want a deal. Everybody wants value. Everybody wants value. It is true that some people like to dicker, so if you have to build some flexibility into your pricing so that people feel like they're getting some type of value, that's fine as long as you're consistent within what that value proposition is.

If you're in the position where you have to give something away, where you have to discount your price - and I'm not saying you should - sometimes if you're firm, and you say to someone, "Look, I'm giving you a great value. Here's why, and here's the benefit to you", sometimes they're just trying to see if you'll break on your pricing. If you won't, they actually respect you more because they say, "Here's somebody who really believes in his price, and I'm going to buy into that as well."

But let's just say you have to give away something on price for those people who want to feel that they're getting a deal. I'd say, number one, if you have a published pricing schedule, give away very small concessions. If you have a one-insertion price and a twelve-insertion price, and the person wants three months, don't drop to the twelve-month price. Don't give everything away at once. Also, if you're at $100 per issue and somebody wants to offer you $50, don't just rush to the middle and split the difference. Don't always just fall all over it and say, "OK $75 a month." Don't split the difference. Start a lot higher than that.

Finally, don't give it to them right away. Ask them if they will buy. Say to them, "Look, I'm offering you $100. You want $50. If I gave you $92 today, would you buy?" So you get the commitment from them before you even say that they've got the discount. "If I did this, would you do that?" You want to separate the serious buyers from the "shoppers", the people who are just buying on price. So as far as the pricing goes, don't split the difference, don't give it away all at once, and don't give it in even increments. If you're at $100 and they're at $50, and you give $90, then $80, they think maybe they'll get $70, and then $60. Make that increment smaller and smaller as you get to your bottom line.

Then the last thing I'll say, Dean, is you have to have what's called a BATNA. BATNA. This is from Yurey [?] and Fisher's book on negotiating called Getting to Yes. BATNA is the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. You have to know what your walk-away position is. If somebody offered you $12 an issue, you'd laugh at him. Well, how about $20? How about $28? How about $30? How about $36. You have to know when enough is enough. Once you establish your bottom line and you move up from that and you add that value to every single call you make, you'll be amazed at how many fewer people are going to think it's the "Deal-a-Day Company" that they're dealing with.

Dean, thanks a lot for that question, and thanks for getting involved in the show from Toronto, Canada, one of my favorite places.

This was a partial transcript from Warren Wechsler's weekly radio show. Warren Wechsler, bestselling author and national sales and motivational speaker, provides many valuable resources free of charge to sales trainers and sales managers. Visit Warren's web site www.totalselling.com Also, listen to Warren's weekly radio broadcast Wednesday's at 4:05 - 5:00 pm Central time, on KMCD-AM 1570AM. Shows are broadcast live on the internet at http://www.warpradio.com/asx/KMCD-AM.asx